I loved the movie but did the book get bogged down with all the religious arguments? The film felt that way to me.
Alien civilisations too stupid to exist.
- Thread starter Gingerbread Demon
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I loved the movie but did the book get bogged down with all the religious arguments? The film felt that way to me.
It's been so long that I can't remember, but I might read it again now. I remember I liked the movie better.
I haven't read the book, only seen the film.
Also that opening scene was so excellent. But not sure if you'd really hear all those broadcasts in the way they showed them but it was dramatic and effective.
Not really - Sagan was an agnostic I understand. He seemed to imply in the book that the only creator might have been aliens from a previous universe that kicked off the Big Bang so that it would support life. The goal of the aliens Ellie meets in this universe is to ensure that it doesn't expand forever but that it will spawn a new Big Bang to support life and so on and so on...
According to the aliens, the "proof" that the universe was artificially created is supposedly buried as a circular pattern deep in the binary representation of π. At the end of the book, Ellie spends time looking for this pattern and ultimately finds it. This is actually meaningless as π contains every possible binary pattern if you look hard enough - cookery recipes for fish fingers and custard, compromising naked pictures of you, the complete works of Shakespeare...
An odd fact, discovered after Sagan wrote the book, is that you can calculate any digit of π for any base that's a power of 2 without calculating any of the intermediate digits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailey–Borwein–Plouffe_formula
Humanity should've blown itself up, several times over already and it didn't. It's not going to. And it's still flying around in Space. SETI scientists and experts in general are usually very naïve, Of course they're going to assume the best about Life Elsewhere, because all they've got is book smarts. But the fact is that our Sun's been sending out light in all directions for billions of years, along with the light of it that's been bouncing off of Earth, as well. Ancient civilisations know we're here, if they exist, and what they think about that, only they can know. But they've had ample opportunity to take us over and haven't.
They could've even set up shop on Mars -- hell, they can do so, right now, and what could we do about it? Not a thing. Not a shittin' thing. Send signals. Send another satellite that'll take years to reach there. And that's in our very own Solar System ... what a joke. Still, it could be that an ancient civilisation already considers Earth to be in their territory. That they own this planet, or -- at the very least -- seek to protect it as a preserve, of some sort. They might be so powerful, that it's the one thing that's really protected us from all the other Cosmic Bullies out there. But if our landlords ever come to pay a courtesy call in an obvious and undeniable way ... I'm running for cover. You people can deal with it ...
What if the landlord comes to pay a visit and slams us for ruining the planet, and demands we change?
Haha ... well ... we've been poisoning this planet for a while, now, and getting away with it. I suspect we'd just get a slap on the wrist, at this point. I mean ... what good's left? Vast provinces of the sea are ruined. More than 150 acres of forest are lost every minute of every day, and 78 million acres lost every year. Our air is so polluted, it isn't healthy to even breathe it in certain places of India, China & elsewhere. But that's a part of the dream of alien visitation, is it not? That they'll come to Earth with a plan to save us from ourselves? It's a story as old as Jules Verne, himself. To answer your question, if we were just "ordered" to change, we might at first, but like a puppy on a new leash, we'd start resisting it, eventually. We would have to get spanked to know we were spanked, if that makes sense.
Makes perfect sense and in some way I would like to see that happen haha.
I welcome our alien spankers.
You do realize that they won't be sexy girls wearing leather?
You do realize that they won't be sexy girls wearing leather?
I did after You mentioned that. Now I'm sad.
Why's that?
Presumably because the scientific method wouldn't survive in what was depicted as an extreme warrior culture.
Makes sense "nods in agreement"
So, I just finished reading the book "Contact" again. I first read it when it was first published. I have to say now, after rereading it, that I like the book more than the movie. Perhaps it is because I'm older, - not sure. The movie and the book are different, and in my opinion they are both good. I think the book would be hard to make into a movie, but I'm no expert on that, so who knows.
I would say that religious ideas are an integral part of the book, but not in the same way as in the movie. I just mention these things because you asked about it.
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No not Cosmos I thought you were talking about the Jodie Foster movie Contact, where they get radio signals from Vega? To me that film bogged down with religious stuff and the whole "we must send a believer" to meet the aliens.
Sorry I meant contact.
That aspect of the film was and remains entirely believable.
Why? If I may ask.
The appearance of an alien intelligence represents a threat to religion's influence, and especially to biblical literalists who have their claws wrapped around the balls of a political majority. They'd do just about anything to maintain even the illusion of control over the situation.
